


Dirty Tricks

by Stariceling



Category: Beyblade
Genre: Friendship, Gen, On Hiatus, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-05-18
Updated: 2010-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-06 01:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/730126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stariceling/pseuds/Stariceling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With help from both new teammates and old, Ray prepares for his final match, but someone wants to make sure he never makes it that far.</p><p>Set in the Russian Championships arc in season 1, directly between ep 48 (Kai vs Spencer) and ep 49 (Ray vs Bryan).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ray made his way back to the team’s hotel room at mid-morning, his cheeks flushed with cold and laughter. He was proud to be one of the Bladebreakers, and he would always be glad he’d joined the team, but it had been good to practice with his old team again. Seeing them just refreshed the most important thing in his mind. He wasn’t just fighting for himself, or even just his own team. When he stepped into the stadium tomorrow it would be for all of them.

“Hey! Good to see you got back in one piece.” Max greeted as soon as he opened the door. It seemed he had been busy going over something with Kenny, both of them sitting in front of Kenny’s ever-present laptop.

“Sure. I had an escort, after all.”

Walking back with Mariah on one side and Lee on the other had made the world feel small and close and familiar again. It was like being home, and gave Ray a sense of warm peace. Then Mariah had pushed a small, brightly colored box into his hands, telling him it was something for good luck. The pink-haired girl’s actions were more than a little distracting to Ray right now.

Ray turned the unopened box over in his hands. He suspected it was some kind of snack she had packed from their home town. Part of him didn’t want to look, knowing he wouldn’t be able to help feeling homesick. And. . . his thoughts were still caught on his last beybattle with Mariah.

It had been wonderful, exhilarating in the way battling her always was. Ray also knew that she wanted to push him. She wanted so much for him to be his best. Her pride and confidence in him showed in every attack, as if she was telling him she knew he could do more. The powerful feelings Mariah put into her beyblade made him want to stand strong until the very end.

At the same time there was a definite sadness to their battle, because Galux was missing. Ray got the feeling that Driger was missing Galux as badly as Mariah was. It was as if his own bitbeast was lonely and confused, because here was the blade that had contained a friend, and now it was empty.

“Earth to Ray,” Max called, waving a hand in front of his face.

“Huh? Sorry. I guess I spaced out a little there.”

“I was saying you got a present from the fanclub! Look!” Max pointed at a rectangular white box sitting on the end of his bed.

Sure enough, there was a card taped to the box reading:

‘To Ray Kon, of the Bladebreakers.  
Good luck in your match!  
–Your biggest fan’

There was no other information on the card but the hotel name and their room number. There was, however, a fancy black and silver script on the sides of the box showing the logo of a local confectionary. Ray had seen the shop itself less than a block from their hotel.

Sure enough, Ray found neat rows of chocolates arranged on a fancy bed of tissue paper when he opened the box. It was very thoughtful of whoever had sent him this, but he still had Mariah’s good luck gift in his hand. . . .

“Lucky!” Max leaned around his shoulder to look. “Aw, man. You have a seriously awesome fan, Ray. Even Kai never got anything like that!”

“Do you want some?” Ray offered. “They might as well be for the whole team, right?”

“Really?”

“Go ahead.” Ray didn’t mind anyway, and it was funny the way Max’s eyes bugged out at his generosity.

“You,” Max told him seriously, “are the best.”

Max took a chocolate and Ray just gave him the whole box. He meant to go straight out and find Tyson for another round of practice, but Max tugged him over to the computer.

“Hold up. You should at least know what we’ve found about your opponent.”

That was all it took to make Ray get serious again. “What did you find?”

“Not a whole lot,” Kenny admitted. “You’ll be up against Bryan Kuznetsov, according to the lineup. We don’t even have any useful information about his beyblade or his techniques from this tournament. All I’ve been able to figure out from his record is that he’s ruthless in battle, but it seems like he likes to toy with weaker opponents.”

“That’s not really a lot of help.”

“Come on, Chief, we know more than that!”

Ray noted with amusement that Max had been eating more of the chocolates while he was getting that extremely brief briefing from Kenny.

“He was there when we were ambushed by the Demolition Boys. His attack was so powerful it knocked me down, remember?”

“How could I forget? I still need to pay him back for that.”

“Guys, I really don’t see how this is going to help us,” Kenny put in. “I wasn’t able to collect any statistical data during that fight, remember?”

“But Ray got to see his attack. That’s better than being able to quote stats at him, isn’t it? And if we know that the bitbeast we’re fighting is wind-based and has an attack powerful to knock down a person, we can do something to prepare for it.”

Kenny considered this while Ray tried to visualize the attack on Max as well as he could in his mind’s eye. They had ganged up on him, so it was difficult to know exactly who had done what, and they hadn’t needed to pull out all their tricks in that situation, but he remembered that one concentrated burst of wind. Would his opponent be able to keep up that kind of power continuously?

“I guess we could weight his blade to give it a little more stability and control. That would help prevent it from getting blown away during the fight.”

“That’s perfect!” Max agreed. “Alright, Chief! What would we do without you?”

Kenny blushed and adjusted his glasses, trying not to look too pleased with the praise.

“You’ll have to modify it later, though. If Tyson’s finally awake I want to practice with him.” When Ray had left to meet up with the White Tigers everyone but Kai had still been asleep.

“I’ll join you,” Kenny offered. “I still need to run some simulations before we modify anything. I don’t know yet how much weight we can add without sacrificing maneuverability, or-”

“Oh come on, we know you can figure it out. Here, brain food?” Max held out the box of chocolates in offer, which was only fair since Kenny was just as much a part of their team.

“No thanks.” Kenny didn’t even glance at the chocolates. “You’re coming with us, right?”

“I’ll see if I can get a rough design here. You guys go ahead.”

“Don’t eat all of that chocolate. You’ll spoil your lunch.” That was classic for the Chief, trying to keep the rest of them in line.

“Nah, I’ll leave the rest for Tyson. They taste funny anyway.” Max shrugged and put the gift box on the bedside table for later before rummaging around for his toolkit.

Ray put his own precious box, still unopened, on top of his bag where no one else was likely to touch it.

Both Ray and Kenny were quiet as they hurried down to join Tyson and Kai and resume their training. Ray’s thoughts were full. He was trying to analyze the attack he had only seen for a second. Instead he kept seeing Max being knocked off his feet and lying there painfully on the ground, unable to even reach his beyblade as Draciel was taken from him.

Ray kept thinking of everyone who had been hurt, or might be hurt if they lost this tournament. Even when he thought about one precious friend or another there was no way to separate the one person’s pain from the rest. Ray was determined to stand strong for all of them. Both he and Driger would stand their ground, no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

The morning was almost over, and Max still hadn’t come down to join in on Ray’s training. Kai found him watching Ray and Tyson face off from their hotel room window. His hands were occupied fiddling with his own beyblade, clicking the talisman that should have held Draciel’s spirit in and out of place.

Ordinarily he should have been down there with them, cheering each of them on in turn. Kai had watched that display of excitable energy so many times that the quiet seemed strange now, almost unnatural.

Max was their shield. He was the one who had jumped in without hesitation and fought Kai to a standstill. It hadn’t mattered that Kai was using the Black Dranzer blade that he had thought would make him invincible, Max had held him off and left him open to attack. Even when Max had lost Draciel, it had been fighting to defend his teammates.

Kai had wanted to repay that sacrifice, to repay all of them for taking him back, by striking the first win and taking the first step to get Draciel back. Instead he had lost, and somehow won a sense of self-determination that he hadn’t known he was missing.

Max hadn’t even brought up the loss itself, being more concerned with the fact that he had taken Black Dranzer back. When Kai explained that he had done it knowing that Black Dranzer couldn’t do any more damage in his hands Max had actually jumped on him and tried to hug him. Kai did not _do_ hugs, but he didn’t miss the whole-hearted sentiment there.

The soft ‘click. . . click. . .’ of Max removing and replacing Draciel’s talisman was almost inaudible under the muffled sound of the beybattle outside. Without their bitbeasts, were they really confined to watching as Ray and Tyson tried to hone each other’s skills?

“It’s all up to them now. But is there anyone else you’d rather trust?” Max turned to include Kai as he asked.

“Hm.” Kai hadn’t thought Max was aware of him standing there. “If they lose, what will you do?”

“They definitely won’t lose!”

“You said the same about me.”

Max was silent at that, giving Kai the opening he wanted. This was the best chance he was likely to get to say what he needed to say.

“If we lose this won’t stop at the championships. It’s going to turn into a battle for the whole world. But right now, I still have Black Dranzer. I could win the others back. All of them.”

Kai couldn’t have explained why, even to himself, but he wanted Max’s approval. Max was the one who had lost his bitbeast. If Kai could at least steal Draciel back. . . but he didn’t know how he could return Draciel to Max in that case. He needed Max’s permission, more than anyone else’s, to use Black Dranzer.

Mimicking Max, Kai carefully removed the talisman that should have held Dranzer’s spirit and looked down at the empty space it left in his blade. If he could just get his own Dranzer back. . . but what would he have to resort to for that?

Max leaned over and clicked Draciel’s talisman into the empty spot in Kai’s blade. It fit, but it looked strange to Kai. Draciel in Dranzer’s place. Green in blue.

“It doesn’t match. It works better with Dranzer, right?” Max echoed Kai’s thoughts.

“Hm.” Kai declined comment, though the light rebuff felt better than the weight of receiving Max’s permission. He simply removed Draciel’s talisman from his blade and returned it to Max.

“You know, you don’t need to have a bitbeast to have a good beybattle. I beat you once even before I had Draciel!”

Kai knew exactly what he was referring to. The second round of their first match. He had let himself get overconfident. He hadn’t figured out Max’s trick, reversing the spin of his blade, until it was too late. Maybe that was the moment Max had first gotten his attention. It had only taken Max a second to devise that counterattack, even without a bitbeast to aid him.

“That was a fluke,” Kai lied.

“Ah-ha!” Max pointed at Kai and grinned. “Caught you!”

“What?”

“You smiled! You never used to really smile. You’d just kind of sneer at people.” A second later Max added, “And you know that move was pure skill! You just don’t want to admit it!” as if he had only just realized that Kai had dismissed his early win.

Kai was momentarily taken off guard. He wasn’t even aware of having smiled at Max.

“Anyway! The point is: even without bitbeasts we can give our all to help them train!”

“Exactly.”

Kai knew he had to have given something close to a smile that time and he didn’t even care. He had hoped Max would come to that conclusion, but he had expected to have to lead him to it first. The four of them would be stronger than just two or three. He saw that now. It was the main reason he’d come to fetch Max in the first place.

“They’ll have to be ready for anything,” Kai elaborated. “Especially when we know their opponents will do anything they think they can get away with to win.”

“All right! Let’s go!”

Unable to even sit still with a new challenge ahead of him, Max bounded up and out of the room before Kai could react. A second later he was back to grab the box of tools and spare parts he used to modify his blade.

“Come on, Kai! We need you too.”

With that Max grabbed at Kai’s arm, intent on dragging him out of the room and down to where the others were waiting, as if it had been his idea in the first place. Kai’s talk had been more of a success than he had hoped, at least in restoring Max’s enthusiasm. Next time he would have to give Max a lesson about personal space.

* * *

Only one afternoon left to hone his game for the final match. It was a challenge Ray would rise to no matter what it took. When Max and Kai finally came out to join in he could only get better for it. He redoubled his efforts as they tested him singly or in pairs.

Ray found himself surrounded. The whirr and clash of beyblades, Tyson and Max’s excited shouts, the strategizing and statistics from the Chief, and even Kai’s occasional comments–for once with the encouraging outweighing the cynical–made up a familiar cacophony. Ray embraced the noise and the company as well as the challenge. Just having the whole team there changed his own energy for the better.

He was facing off with Max alone once again, only to have his beyblade suddenly catch on Max’s and flip right over at the first impact. Ray couldn’t even see what move Max had used to catch him out like that.

Ray could only exclaim in surprise, as Tyson echoed him with a call of, “Whoa, what happened?”

“Call it a lucky hit,” Max claimed. He leaned back on his heels, hands tucked into his overalls, his expression one of badly concealed pleasure at his surprise win. Ray could tell that whatever had happened it certainly wasn’t simple luck.

Kai retrieved Max’s beyblade from the dish and inspected it for a second.

“Here’s the trick.” He outlined a strange bit of clear plastic with his fingers before handing the beyblade over to Ray to study, ignoring Tyson trying to get a look by hanging on his shoulder.

Max laughed sheepishly as Ray inspected his beyblade. He had somehow fitted it with a clear plastic hook that had caught right under the attack ring on Ray’s blade and flipped it easily. Ray weighed it in his hand, feeling how Max had balanced his blade to handle the modification.

“I couldn’t even see that in the dish,” Ray noted, before handing the beyblade back to Max. The trick of shadows across the curved walls had made it invisible to him.

“That was kind of a dirty trick, though. Especially from you.” Ray had to say it, though he felt bad when Max’s face fell. He knew Max liked to fool around, and he had never minded it, but that had been closer to a cheat than a joke.

“You have to be ready for the dirtiest tricks they can pull.” Kai told him. “Your opponent will do anything he can to win.”

The cold tone in Kai’s voice brought them all back to the seriousness of the situation. Max clutched the modified blade in both hands, and there was a moment of absolute silence among them. Ray knew there was so much more at stake here than in any regular practice. He knew he had to be ready for anything. He knew Max would do anything to help him prepare, the same as any of his teammates.

“I know that, Kai.” Ray felt an absolute calm as he said it. He knew, and with the four of them to back him up he could do anything. “So how do we prepare?”

“First of all, we shouldn’t leave either of you alone at any time. We can’t put it past them to attack again before the match.” Ray got the feeling he was being singled out there, though he was sure he had been safe enough this morning with the White Tigers around him.

Their eyes met for a moment, and Ray was suddenly aware of how much this must bother Kai. He usually didn’t really look like he was enjoying himself, but this was genuine. Whether it was the burden he felt to look after his teammates, or a thought of betraying his old team, Ray couldn’t be sure. The next second, Kai turned to Max and Kenny, waiting eagerly on the sidelines.

“How fast can you modify a beyblade?”

“For you guys? Like lightning!” Max pumped his fist in enthusiasm, every trace of his earlier embarrassment now gone.

“With Dizzi’s help, I’m sure we can match your specifications.”

Kai crossed his arms and tilted his chin up, failing to completely hide the fact that he was pleased with their answers. It was one of those moments when there was no doubting him as their team captain.

“Then I’ll show you a few nasty tricks for Ray to dodge.”

Ray laughed at that, not quite sure what he had gotten himself into. “You guys are the best.”

“Yeah. With friends like you, who needs enemies?” Tyson sounded a little less than happy about the prospect of being on the receiving end of what Kai considered a ‘nasty trick.’

Max’s response was the one Ray found funny. He closed his eyes and grinned at Kai, pressing his fingers into his cheeks to push his smile even wider. Ray suspected those two had been in cahoots somehow. That could only bring their group closer together, right? He was glad to see Max’s energy could affect even Kai.


	3. Chapter 3

Practice went on in the twilight. None of them wanted to be the first to suggest that they pack it in. Even though Kai knew that he should make sure Ray was fed and well rested before his match, he didn’t want to stop yet.

Max was the first to tire out. He was already flagging. Kai could only guess that it was because he was pulling double duty with modifying and battling, and found himself trying to take on more of the work. It wouldn’t do them any good to push Max to his limit today, after all.

In the end it was Tyson’s rumbling stomach that broached the subject, making them all laugh and agree it was about time they ate.

Kai did notice, out of the corner of his eye, that Ray put one hand on Max’s shoulder and asked him if he was tired. A second later, Tyson did the same.

“I’m fine! I just need some dinner and I’ll be right back at it,” he answered both of them.

Kai hoped then that would be the end of it.

Dinner was the same celebratory affair as usual. Kenny and Tyson had sat down side-by-side and gotten caught in up arguing back and forth, because Tyson was demolishing the buffet _again_ and Kenny had brought his computer to the table _again_. Ray was enjoying his food with a more civilized relish. For just a minute Kai was able to silently admit, in the back of his mind, that he had missed this side of his teammates as well.

Only Max didn’t seem to be eating. He had piled his plate high as usual but he just picked at his food. Occasionally he would taste one dish or another, but with nothing approaching his usual gusto.

Ray had noticed too, and he chose to lean in and ask, “Are you feeling okay?” His voice was low enough that Kai could hardly hear it, even though he was right on Max’s other side.

“‘M fine. I guess I’m not as hungry as I thought.”

“Why don’t you try this? It’s a sort of pickled cabbage with ginger. It might help your stomach.” Ray transferred some of the dish from his plate to Max’s as he spoke. “It’s good.”

Max wrinkled his nose at the vegetable. “It doesn’t _sound_ good.”

“Hey, Ray, you’re not just using Max to get rid of food you don’t want, are you?” Tyson butted in. It was impossible to tell just how much of the exchange he had been paying attention to.

“That’s what we have you for,” Kai told him. The barb rolled out without a second thought.

Whatever the reason, Max was eating again. Ray was just being considerate, and that wasn’t unusual. Tyson was busy getting irritated at his comment. Everything was normal. So why couldn’t he shake the feeling that something was wrong? Looking at his teammates, everything seemed fine.

Maybe he just wanted it to be fine.

About three minutes later Max stood up suddenly. He braced both hands on the table, head down and shoulders tense. For a moment he remained frozen in that position.

“Max?” Ray asked in concern.

“Hey, what’s up buddy?” Tyson asked from across the table.

Kai silently put down his own fork and knife, expecting trouble.

“I’m going to be sick,” Max announced. He took off, nearly knocking over his chair.

“Max! Man, Ray, what did you feed him?”

“I didn’t think it would make him sick.”

Ray had gotten to his feet to follow as soon as Max took off, but he hesitated to answer Tyson. Kai was already on his feet and not about to pause.

“Stay there,” Kai commanded as he left, shouting back over his shoulder. “I’ll get him. Both of you stay right there.”

“But-”

“Especially you!” Kai directed at Ray before speeding his steps to catch up to Max.

He didn’t have time to explain his fear. There was only the feeling that something was very wrong. He couldn’t leave Max alone right now. He also couldn’t let Ray or Tyson run off when he didn’t even know what might happen. They would be safer in the crowded dining room, especially with Mr. Dickenson and Tyson’s grandfather at the next table.

As soon as he stepped into the men’s restroom, Kai could hear Max being sick. He found Max doubled over in misery in the first stall.

Kai gave him a moment of privacy, checking that there was no one else in the room. As soon as the sounds stopped he stepped into the stall behind Max. Edging into the narrow space, Kai managed to kneel next to him.

“What happened?”

“Blech,” Max answered, and spat a few times. That seemed to be all he could manage at first.

Kai reached for Max’s shoulder, then hesitated. He wasn’t sure what he could do to help his teammate.

“How is he?”

Kai snatched his hand back, turning to find that Ray had followed in spite of his warning. The Chinese blader slipped in and knelt at Max’s other side as Kai stood and stepped back to avoid having Max pressed into him in the close space.

“Hey, you okay?”

Ray reached around Max to flush the toilet. Then he moved to gently rub his hand up and down Max’s back.

“Huh-uh,” Max answered.

“Is he really sick?” Tyson leaned around the door to peer in at Max.

Of course he wouldn’t stay put when Kai told him to. Kai stood his ground and kept Tyson from coming in to hover over Max as well. They wouldn’t all fit, and Ray seemed to have the most comforting manner at the moment.

Ray had turned Max to face him, and was feeling his forehead and cheeks.

“It doesn’t feel like he has a fever. Could one of you go get some water?”

Kai and Tyson stared each other down. Tyson obviously wasn’t going to leave his friend’s side. Kai wasn’t going to move and leave Ray and Max vulnerable, but he shouldn’t be trying to get Tyson to run off and get into trouble either. . . .

“I’ll go,” the Chief offered, reading the air between them. He had slipped in behind Tyson, also intending to see what had happened to Max.

That would work. Kai turned his attention back to how Max was faring.

Ray was feeling, or maybe massaging, under Max’s jaw. As Kai watched, Ray abandoned this and pulled Max’s shirt out of his overalls, just enough to get both hands up under Max’s shirt. He seemed to be feeling under Max’s arms.

“That tickles,” Max protested, without any real conviction.

“What are you doing?”

Tyson was bold enough to actually lean on Kai’s shoulder, peering around him to get a better view.

“I’m trying to see if his lymph nodes are swollen,” Ray explained, taking his hands away and tucking Max’s shirt back in. “I’m not sure what else to do,” he admitted after a moment.

Kenny returned with a glass of water then, which they passed up to Max. He held onto it with both hands, but managed to rinse his mouth out without help. They all focused on him, suddenly intent on watching Max sip at the water.

“Didn’t he just eat something that disagreed with him?” Tyson suggested. His tone was a little unsure, giving away the worry that this was something more serious.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would make you sick,” Ray apologized. He was rubbing Max’s back again.

“No. He was feeling sick before dinner,” Kai stated.

“Besides, we were all eating from the buffet,” Kenny pointed out. “It doesn’t seem like anybody else feels sick.”

“Guys. . .” Max protested weakly. He looked more embarrassed than sick now.

“Hey, what’s up with my hombres hangin’ in the outhouse like a pack of flies?”

And that would be Tyson’s grandfather butting in to see what was going on. This was getting out of hand.

“I’m fine,” Max insisted.

Max managed to get to his feet, even if he was a bit unsteady. After only a second his face went completely pale. He dropped the glass and clapped both hands over his mouth.

Kai grabbed at Max when the color drained out of his face. With Ray’s help he somehow kept Max upright and got him turned around and in position before he could be sick again.

Pressed in the uncomfortably narrow space as the three of them tried to kneel sideways in the stall, it was all Kai could do to keep his cool. He and Ray stared at each other across Max’s back. There was no chance of stepping back and giving Max space when it seemed like he was about to collapse, but neither of them was going to watch. They were both feeling the helplessness of not being able to do anything to fix Max.

Max ended up a coughing, shaking, mess before it was over, but his nausea eventually passed. Kai felt him for fever this time, having to push Max’s short hair back from his forehead as he did. Max wouldn’t even raise his head for Kai.

“Kill me now,” Max whined. He put his head down on his arms as soon as Kai took his hand away.

Kai took his hands away from Max again, since they seemed to be unwelcome. He reached around to flush the toilet a second time and exchanged another look with Ray over Max’s back. Kai hoped his own concern and fear didn’t stand out quite so much as Ray’s did.

“We need to get him a doctor,” Ray said.

“Has he eaten anything that no one else did?” Kai hadn’t been paying attention to Max’s eating habits until dinner. “Anything strange?”

Tyson shrugged. He had backed off a few steps while Max was sick, and the Chief had disappeared entirely.

The color drained out of Ray’s face. “There were those chocolates,” he suggested. Just looking at Ray’s expression was enough to confirm Kai’s worst fears.

“What chocolates?” Tyson wanted to know.

“A fan sent them to me, but I told Max he could have them,” Ray managed. “He ate a whole bunch and then told me they tasted weird.”

Max groaned an affirmative into the silence that followed. Ray bent over him again.

“Shh. . . You don’t have to talk.”

“Where’s my water?” Kai just barely heard, the words muffled by Max’s arms.

Kai picked up the glass Max had dropped. The spilled water had mostly soaked into the knees of his trousers.

“I don’t get it. What’s wrong with the chocolates?”

“They could have been sent by someone trying to incapacitate Ray before the match,” Kai told him. He had no patience left for passing things back through Tyson, and stepped out of the stall to get Max’s water himself.

“I never should have given them to him. I didn’t think anyone would. . .”

“Of course you didn’t think of that. I should have warned you sooner.”

Kai found they had collected a bit of a crowd when he stepped outside the stall. Mr. Dickenson was shifting from one foot to the other nervously. Tyson’s grandfather actually seemed to be struck silent by the situation. The Chief was peering around the door nervously.

If neither of the adults were going to take charge, Kai would do it.

“We need to get Max to a doctor. I know the area, so I can help you find someone that’ll see him quickly. You’re going to have to call us a taxi since the bus isn’t fixed yet.”

“Hey, I’ll have your hack cab here in two shakes!” Tyson’s grandfather revived once there was something to do, and was the first out of the bathroom.

Kai refilled the glass at the bathroom sink and gave it to Tyson to pass to Max.

Max had half-turned around, and he took the glass in both hands again. He looked up at all of them, then flushed and put his head down, mumbling something into the glass.

“What?” Kai took a half-step forward out of concern.

“He just said he wants to brush his teeth,” Ray relayed.

If that was all it was. . . Kai stepped out again, leaving Ray and Tyson to hover.

“Go get the chocolates he was eating,” Kai directed at the Chief, who was still hanging on the door. He obviously wanted to help, but seemed wary to come in again. “And his toothbrush,” Kai added, almost as an afterthought.

That left one last thing that Kai could do to help Max. “We’ll need a phonebook,” he told Mr. Dickenson.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, maybe I got derailed here (If you like Kai and Max moments, never fear! I'll keep adding more fic for them). This is almost like an extra/intermission chapter. This is on hiatus until I can get some other stuff done, but the next chapter will catch up with what's happening to Tyson and Kenny back at the hotel.

Ray was grateful to Kai for taking charge of the situation. It left him to concentrate on taking care of his two younger teammates. He kept trying to reassure Tyson that they would get Max to a doctor and he would be fine. Max he settled for supporting him and rubbing his back. He only wished there was more he could do to soothe his sick teammate.

Soon enough Kenny was back with the box of suspect chocolates and Max’s toothbrush, and had even remembered to grab toothpaste while he was up in their room. Ray had to help Max to his feet, but at least the movement didn’t make him sick this time. With Tyson’s help, Ray was able to get Max safely to a sink.

Max was shaky, leaning on the sink with one hand while he brushed his teeth to clean the taste out of his mouth, but at least he was standing. Ray and Tyson hovered on either side, ready just in case he should fall or feel sick again.

Kai came in a minute later, his attention going directly to Max.

“I have the address.”

There was no hiding the fact that Max was still shaky and unsteady on his feet. He had admitted to Ray just a moment ago that he felt dizzy. Ray was about to offer to help Max when-

“I’ll carry you out to the cab,” Kai interrupted before any of the rest of them could even open their mouths. He approached Max, who dropped his toothbrush and scrubbed at the foam around his mouth with the back of his hand, not looking around at Kai.

“I’ll do it,” Tyson argued, never one to leave a friend behind.

“No, I’ll do it,” Ray insisted. “It’s my fault he’s sick.”

“I can walk,” Max tried to argue.

“I will carry him.” Kai put one hand on Max’s shoulder, making him go still. Kai ignored Max’s reaction in favor of looking at Tyson, “If you drop him, he’ll probably be sick again.” He turned on Ray next, “You have to be rested for your match tomorrow.” The last rebuke he directed at Max, “And I am not going to let you make yourself any worse.”

“I’m not gonna drop him! He’s not that heavy!” Tyson protested.

It made no difference. Kai turned around and Max voluntary, if hesitantly, climbed onto his back and let himself be lifted piggyback-style.

Tyson seemed a little flabbergasted that Max had let Kai, of all people, take him. If he was it didn’t last long. He ran and held the door open while Ray picked up the glass of water Max had been sipping from and his toothbrush and toothpaste, just in case.

Their strange party made their way down to the front desk with Kai in the lead. Kai was being extremely careful with his task, avoiding stairs and taking pains not to jostle Max. In turn, Max clung to Kai’s neck, his face pressed into Kai’s shoulder. Ray would have been more afraid that Max was on the verge of being sick again, but the parts of Max’s face he could see were flushed bright pink with embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Max whispered, muffled by Kai’s shoulder.

“Don’t sweat it. It’s not your fault,” Ray told him. Tyson echoed the sentiment.

“Sorry,” Max repeated.

“Shut up.” Kai’s bedside manner left a little something to be desired.

“Hey! You don’t have to be a jerk to him when he’s sick!”

Ray had to hold Tyson back from trying to get at Kai, while Kai didn’t even seem to notice that he had pissed Tyson off. He was concentrating on getting around a large group at the front desk without jostling Max.

“Chill out, okay? He’s just as worried about Max as we are.”

“Yeah? Well he’s got a crummy way of showing it.”

Ray didn’t agree. Kai was rough about it, but he was sincerely trying to help Max. It was obvious he was concerned for his teammate, though Ray wasn’t sure if it was out of duty or friendship. Between knowing Kai and seeing his actions, Ray suspected both.

Mr. Dickenson was waiting outside for them and it looked like their taxi had just pulled up. If nothing else, at least their timing seemed to be working out.

“How’s our young friend doing?” Mr. Dickenson wanted to know.

Kai marched right past him without giving him time to check Max’s forehead for fever as the rest of them had. He went straight to the cab and leaned in the open window to give the driver a piece of paper with the address they wanted.

The driver asked him something in Russian and Kai responded in kind as he moved to get Max situated in the back. Tyson jumped in the front passenger seat and leaned back to supervise. The Chief was the last to follow them all out, still carrying the box of chocolates and looking unsure what he was supposed to do with them.

Ray went around and climbed in the back from the other side, helping Kai by buckling Max in. Max was limp, his head down, just focusing on breathing. Ray helped him sip some more water.

Mr. Dickenson came around to tap Tyson on the shoulder. “Excuse me son, but-”

“He needs to come,” Kai said for him. “He’s acting as Max’s guardian while we’re on this trip.”

“Oh, sure.” Tyson climbed out of his seat and started to go around.

“Move over,” Kai said in a low voice, nudging at Ray. As soon as Ray was out of the way, Kai vaulted gracefully over Max and into the middle seat. He reached back over Max to close the door, then sat with his arms crossed across his chest as if daring any of them to try and shift him.

Max actually laughed at Kai’s athletic display. It was a relief just to see him with a little more life in him. Kai turned to speak to Max just as Ray found Tyson leaning over him.

“Move over, would’ja?”

The driver said something to Mr. Dickenson, apparently assuming he knew Russian if Kai did. All of them looked at Kai in askance.

“He can’t take any more of us than he has seatbelts for,” Kai informed them.

“No way! I’m worried about Max too!”

“You should be resting up for tomorrow,” Kai suggested to Ray.

Ray didn’t budge, even with both Kai and Tyson staring at him like they expected him to get out. “I’m not going to be able to rest at all until I know Max is going to be okay.”

“One or both of you is staying,” Kai told them. “Decide.”

Kai left them to fight it out, turning his attention to Max again. Ray missed most of their short conversation over Tyson complaining that they would all fit, so why couldn’t they all go?

“I’ve never been carsick in my life. I am not going to start now,” he caught Max saying.

“Good boy,” Kai murmured in approval.

“Come on, Ray. I want to help Max too!”

At any other time, Ray probably would have bowed out before the combination of Tyson and Kai’s wills. Right now, however, Max was hurt because of him. There was no way he was going to leave his teammate’s side.

“Sorry Tyson,” Ray said. He tried to pitch his voice so that Max wouldn’t hear, “Why don’t you see if you can get a hold of Max’s mom? It might make him feel better if she could be here.” He just didn’t want Max to overhear and be disappointed if she couldn’t come.

Tyson was not placated by being given a job to occupy him, but he seemed to realize Ray wasn’t giving up his seat.

“We’re wasting time,” Kai reminded them, though the conversation had only taken a minute.

Ray leaned out just far enough to take the box of chocolates that the Chief had carried out. “We’ll take care of him,” he reassured Tyson before shutting the car door.

They started off at last.

Kai, Ray noticed, hadn’t even bothered to put on his own seatbelt. In a minute he had one arm locked around the back of the seat, and the other arm around Max. He was doing his best to help hold Max in place and keep him from being jerked around with each pothole they went over.

“He didn’t say anything about seatbelts, did he?” Ray could at least tell from the tone that whatever the driver had said before was a question.

“He asked Mr. Dickenson if the five of us were all his.”

“Guess that makes us brothers.” Ray reached across to touch Max’s shoulder.

Max turned his face against Kai’s chest so he could smile at Ray. His face was flushed, but Ray couldn’t tell now if it was fever or embarrassment or the effect of Kai’s body heat.

“I’d be okay with that, big bro,” Max chimed in, with the faintest hint of his usual humor.

The driver was trying to strike up a casual conversation with Mr. Dickenson again.

“Now he’s asking about his wife,” Kai reported.

Mr. Dickenson looked uncertainly at the three boys in the back, and then held up three fingers. There was a short exchange where Ray was pretty sure Mr. Dickenson mistakenly confirmed that he’d had three wives.

Max snickered against Kai’s shoulder. Ray exchanged a look with Kai, sure they were thinking the same thing. It was good to see Max able to laugh. Maybe this would help to distract him from being sick. Anything to prevent him being sick again.

Kai kept up a running translation, speaking in a low voice so as not to interrupt their entertainment. Mr. Dickenson would either nod and make noises of agreement, or gesture helplessly at one of the boys in the back. Through this was constructed an odd scenario in which Ray seemed to be the oldest brother, Tyson the problem child (guessed probably because of the way he had been booted from the cab), and Max the favored youngest.

It seemed so strange to hear agreements to everything. Oh yes, his eldest was quite responsible (though Ray didn’t feel it right now), and yes they took good care of their baby brother (at least Kai was taking good care of him now), and yes they were quite a close family (and that had grown more and more true over the past few months). A small place in the back of Ray’s heart actually liked this cobbled together story. His team felt like a family to him sometimes, the same way the White Tigers would always be family.

At one point Kai paused. It wasn’t until Ray nudged him that he muttered, “Well that was. . . complimentary. I don’t know how to translate that without being inappropriate.”

Max started snickering and Kai’s cheeks actually went pink. “I didn’t say it _was_ inappropriate!” he hissed.

That got Ray’s curiosity up, but he doubted that he would get a proper explanation from Kai. He had to settle for the fact that Kai could actually look embarrassed.

It was only a short time between Kai’s moment of embarrassment and them arriving at their destination. As soon as the cab stopped, Kai climbed out over Max before helping Max unbuckle his seatbelt.

The clinic parking lot was nearly empty. It was a simple, single-story building with small windows set high in the walls along the front.

“Why didn’t we take him to the hospital?” Ray wanted to know.

“He’ll be able to see a doctor more quickly here. That’s why I phoned ahead to check.”

Max was rebelling. When Kai tried to pick him up again he wormed his way out of the cab instead and got to his feet. Kai put one hand on the side of the cab to pen him in.

“It’s okay. I can walk. I feel better already.”

“Your legs are shaking,” Kai pointed out.

Ray climbed out and moved around to join them. He couldn’t help Mr. Dickenson trying to wave away whatever cheerful thing their driver was saying as he tried to pay, but maybe he could help settle this.

“I can take him,” Ray suggested.

“I feel a lot better, really.”

Kai leaned in to give Max his most potent glare at close range, making him freeze. For an instant Max’s posture was like a mouse transfixed by a snake. Then, carelessly, Kai leaned past him and addressed the driver.

“He doesn’t speak a word of Russian, you know.”

On his way back Ray noticed that Kai hissed something in Max’s ear. Whatever it was, it made Max give in and let himself be lifted on Kai’s back a second time.

Their driver was roaring with laughter. “You are a very easygoing man,” he told Mr. Dickenson. “But my English is good too.”

Ray couldn’t help laughing a little as he closed the car door and followed after Kai.

He caught up just in time to hear Max whisper, “Kai?”

“Don’t you dare apologize again.”

Max didn’t say anything else after that. He simply held on to Kai and allowed himself to be taken inside. Kai had been right about being able to see a doctor quickly at this time of night. Almost immediately they were able to take Max from the waiting room to an examination room in the back.

Immediately after that they found themselves shooed back out into the waiting room. Mr. Dickenson was allowed in to speak to the doctor as Max’s guardian, but Ray and Kai found themselves dismissed as ‘just friends.’

Kai’s grim silence only made the tense atmosphere worse. A young woman who had been with the doctor just before them was having a friendly chat with the receptionist, but she might as well have been miles away. Ray’s thoughts were with Max, and a little bit with Kai as well. Kai had his arms crossed, his head down as he leaned against the wall, every inch of his posture forbidding company. Ray was used to seeing his teammate cool and silent, but not quite like this.

“Kai,” Ray started.

“She’s saying, ‘It wasn’t even ten stitches,’” Kai translated without looking up.

“Not that. What do you think. . . they did to those chocolates?” He had wanted to ask what Kai thought would happen to Max, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

“I don’t know.” Kai lifted his head, looking away from Ray and down the hall to where they had left Max. “I would have thought the Demolition Boys would want to attack us personally. It could have been someone from Biovolt, or a deranged fan. There’s no way of knowing for sure if I can’t even guess the source.”

Clenching his hands on his knees, Ray silently cursed himself. He felt sick inside with thoughts of his teammate being hurt. He knew it was nothing next to what Max was probably feeling right now.

“I never should have given him those chocolates.”

“You never expected anyone to stoop so low,” Kai told him. It wasn’t like he was telling Ray to stop blaming himself, but simply acknowledging Ray’s frustration. “I should have thought to warn all of you sooner,” Kai added, sharing in the blame. “But it’s too late now. We can only try to deal with the damage.”

That was all there was to it. They could only fight together to deal with what had happened, and what was coming tomorrow. There was no need to comment on the feeling of comradery between them, Ray realized. It was enough to know Kai was with them in this.


End file.
